A blog blessing
Or a blessing blog…
Diving into Celtic spirituality with Ocean Church- something I know little about- one thing that has struck me so far has been the abundance of blessings. Blessings feel like something that I, and perhaps others parts of the wider Church have moved on from. I vaguely remember a Lion book of children’s prayers that included quaint and slightly odd blessings for waking up, going to bed, meals and so on. One of them in particular seemed to insinuate that I’d better say these words or I may not actually wake up again the next day.
So I moved on. As a family we rarely bless our food these days- a habit that was very prevalent in my childhood. So is it worth taking a look again at the practice of blessings?
What actually are blessings?
Blessings are directed towards people or places or objects, not actually to God like a prayer. They are specific and call something concrete and named into being, rather than being a vague wish of good intentions. Interestingly, they also involve authority in some way: a parent blessing a child, a Priest or Pastor blessing a marriage, a host blessing a visitor. To bless someone or something involves taking ownership and responsibility in some way, however small. You see this in Biblical blessings of parents to their children such as Isaac blessing the schemer, Jacob (thinking he was his favourite son Esau). Once spoken, that blessing carried power and authority, it couldn’t simply be overwritten.
This gives pause for thought. Perhaps we shouldn’t be too hasty to bless and think carefully about the content and meaning of blessings we feel drawn to.
Traditionally, blessings are bound to major life events: weddings, new homes, births, even death. Celtic spirituality takes this further though and includes beautiful, powerful blessings of the small details of daily life. It teaches that there is grace in the ordinary things of normal life and recognises and calls out where the grace of God is already at work.
This is clearly seen in this famous Irish blessing:
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
What a blessing. Simple, powerful, grounded and real. Calling out God’s grace in the wind, the sun and the rain.
As we get into Celtic spirituality with Ocean Church, you also may feel drawn to the practice of blessing. On the Ocean Church App there is a treasure trove section which contains lots of blessings that are a great place to start speaking God’s love, grace and peace over a person, place or moment; drawing attention to God at work in simple everyday activities and taking responsibility and a small amount of authority in these moments.
The wonderful Nicola shared some of these blessings with our young people during Ocean Church youth. I wonder where these blessings will lead.
To end, I will attempt a blog blessing for you as the reader- especially if you’ve made it this far!
May you find a moment to slow down
take a breath
recognise your loving God
at work in the small things of this day
and hear His heart for you.
